Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germ ...

of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of

North Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after:

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

, and the fourth largest urban area in the country after

and

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

. Oulu's neighbouring municipalities are:

Hailuoto Hailuoto (; sv, Karlö) is a Finnish island in the northern Baltic Sea and a municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Hailuoto is (), which make it the smallest municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia and the former Oulu P ...

, Ii,

Kempele Kempele is a municipality south of the city of Oulu and south of the Oulu Airport in Northern Finland. Historically it was in the province of Oulu, but today it is in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The population of Kempele is () and the m ...

Liminka Liminka ( sv, Limingo) is a municipality in the Northern Ostrobothnia region in Finland. Liminka is located about south of Oulu. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The n ...

Lumijoki Lumijoki is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Hailuoto, L ...

Muhos Muhos is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu half an hour's drive (35 km) on route 22 from the city of Oulu, the capital of Northern Finland, and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a ...

Pudasjärvi Pudasjärvi () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of ...

Tyrnävä Tyrnävä () is a municipality in the North Ostrobothnia region of Finland with a population of (). It covers an area of , of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The city of Oulu is located about ...

and

Utajärvi Utajärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region next to the border of the Kainuu region, and is part of the former province of Oulu. It is from Utajärvi to Oulu and to Kajaani. The municipality has a pop ...

. Due to its large population and geopolitically economic and cultural-historical location, Oulu has been called the "capital of Northern Finland".Oulu Information – City of Oulu
/ref> Oulu is also considered one of Europe's "living labs", where residents experiment with new technology (such as NFC tags and ubi-screens) on a community-wide scale. Despite only ranking in the top 2% universities, the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...

is regionally known in the field of information technology. Oulu has also been very successful in recent urban image surveys; in a study published by the Finnish Economic Survey in 2008, it received the best ranking of large cities in image ratings across the country, including ratings from respondents in all

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. Once known for

wood tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

and

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

, Oulu has evolved into a major high-tech centre, particularly in IT and wellness technology. Other prominent industries include wood refining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper, and steel. Oulu has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2026.

Etymology

The city is named after the river

Oulujoki Oulujoki is a river in Oulu province, Finland. Its name in Finnish means literally "Oulu River" ( sv, Ule älv), originally in old Northern Ostrobothnian dialect literally "Flood River". Its origin is Oulujärvi and its watershed area covers ...

, which originates in the lake

Oulujärvi Oulujärvi (; sv, Ule träsk; also known as Lake Oulu) is a large lake in the Kainuu region of Finland. With an area of it is the fifth largest lake in the country. The lake is drained by the Oulu River, which flows northwestward from the lake ...

. There have been a number of other theories for the origin of the name ''Oulu''. One possible source is a word in the

Sami language Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

meaning 'flood water', but there are other suggestions. At minimum, the structure of the word requires that, if originally given by speakers of a

Uralic The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...

language, the name must be a

derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. F ...

. In all likelihood, it also predates Finnish settlement and is thus a

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

from one of the now-extinct

Saami languages The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several America ...

once spoken in the area. The most probable theory is that the name derives from the Finnish dialectal word ''oulu'', meaning "

floodwater A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

", which is related to e.g.

Southern Sami Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

''åulo'', meaning "melted snow", ''åulot'' meaning "thaw" (of unknown ultimate origin). Two other word families have also been speculated to be related. The first is seen in the Northern Savo dialectal word ''uula'' and its Sami counterpart ''oalli'', both meaning "river channel". The second is the Uralic root reconstructed as *''uwa'', meaning "river bed" (reflected as ''vuo'' in modern Finnish, also in derivatives such as ''vuolas'' "heavy-flowing"). To either of these roots, some Sami variety would have to be assumed having added further derivational suffixes.

History

Oulu is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of river

, which is an ancient trading site. The city proper was founded on 8 April 1605 by King Charles IX of Sweden, opposite the fort built on the island of Linnansaari. This took place after favourable peace settlements with Russia, which removed the threat of attack via the main east–west waterway, the river Oulu. The surrounding areas were populated much earlier. Oulu was the capital of the

Province of Oulu The Province of Oulu ( fi, Oulun lääni, sv, Uleåborgs län) was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Lapland, Western Finland and Eastern Finland and also the Gulf of Bothnia and Russia. History ''For Histo ...

from 1776 to 2009. In 1822, a major fire destroyed much of the city. The architect

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

, chiefly known for the neoclassical (empire style) buildings around

Helsinki Senate Square The Senate Square ( fi, Senaatintori, sv, Senatstorget) presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Senate Square and its surrounding ...

, was enlisted to provide the plan for its rebuilding. With minor changes, this plan remains the basis for the layout of Oulu's town center. The

Oulu Cathedral Oulu Cathedral ( fi, Oulun tuomiokirkko, sv, Uleåborgs domkyrka) is an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral and the seat of the Diocese of Oulu, located in the centre of Oulu, Finland. The church was built in 1777 as a tribute to the King of Sweden ...

was built in 1832 to his designs, with the spire being finished in 1844. During the

Åland War The Åland War ( fi, Oolannin sota, sv, Åländska kriget) is the Finnish term for the operations of a British-French naval force against military and civilian facilities on the coast of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1854–1856, during the Crime ...

, part of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, Oulu's harbour was raided by the British fleet, who destroyed ships and burned tar houses, leading to international criticism.

Geography

Oulu is located in northern Finland, a considerable distance from the other cities in the country. It is located north of the capital city

. Mainland Finland's northernmost and southernmost points are roughly

equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is the ...

from Oulu. Oulu's coast sits at the

Bothnian Bay The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and wit ...

(''Perämeri'' in Finnish) and the Swedish mainland is about 180 km directly west across the Bothnian Bay. From the center of Oulu in the direction of

Oulunsalo Oulunsalo ( sv, Oulunsalo, also formerly ) is former municipality in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. Along with Haukipudas, Kiiminki and Yli-Ii it lost its municipal status and was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. ...

, there is , a smaller but wide,

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

-belted bay, and part of it has been listed as a nature conservation area. The nearby island

is just off the coast, away in the Bothnian Bay.

Subdivisions

Oulu is divided into 106 city districts. The largest of these are

Haukipudas Haukipudas is a town and former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. Its shore runs along the Gulf of Bothnia, with the river Kiiminkijoki running through the province. ...

, Kaakkuri, Ritaharju, Tuira, and . The municipality of

Ylikiiminki Ylikiiminki ( sv, Överkiminge) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2009. It was located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a pop ...

was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2009. Oulu and the municipalities of

Kiiminki Kiiminki ( sv, Kiminge) was a municipality of Finland. Along with Haukipudas, Oulunsalo and Yli-Ii municipalities it was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. Kiiminki municipality was part of the Oulu province in the Northern Ostrobo ...

, and

Yli-Ii Yli-Ii ( sv, Överijo) was a municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Oulu and was part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. Alongside Haukipudas, Kiiminki and Oulunsalo municipalities it was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 J ...

were merged on 1 January 2013.

Climate

Oulu has a subarctic continental climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfc''). It is the largest Finnish city entirely in this climatic zone as well as one of the largest such in the world. The typical features are cold and snowy winters with short and warm summers. Average annual temperature is . The average annual precipitation is falling 105 days per year, mostly in late summer and fall. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Oulu was in July 1957, while the coldest temperature on record was in February 1966. Due to Oulu's far northern location, and its frequent overcast skies, it only sees on average 15 minutes of sunlight in December. During the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

days only last 3 hours and 34 minutes with the sun rising 1.9 degrees over the horizon. On the other hand, during the summer solstice days last 22 hours and 3 minutes, with the sun dipping 1 degree below the horizon. This gives Oulu

white nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held ...

during the summer.

On June 21, 2021, Oulu was struck by the Ahti

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

, causing

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing and fall of trees with the wind blowing at more than 30 meters per second. The storm is known to have killed one person and injured two people.

Demographics

In 2008, there were 316

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-speaking inhabitants as mother tongue, which was 0.2% of the total population, making the city unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

-speaking similar to other areas in Northern Finland. With

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Swedish being compulsory school subjects, functional bi- or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon. In 2007, there were 2,417 foreign citizens living in the city, of whom 618 were from elsewhere in the EU. 51.1% of the population is female. Oulu, as well as other parts of North Ostrobothnia, is well-known as a strong support area of the

Conservative Laestadianism Conservative Laestadianism is the largest branch of the Lutheran revival movement Laestadianism. It has spread to 16 countries. As of 2012 there were about 115,000 Conservative Laestadians, most of them in Finland, the United States, Norw ...

revival movement Christian revivalism is increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect. This should be distinguished from the use of the term "revival" to refer to an evangelis ...

. A Laestadian background has been estimated to be common in construction sector management. In 2017, the population grew to over 200,000 inhabitants, making Oulu the fourth Finnish locality with at least 200,000 inhabitants after

and

. Oulu was the site of the 2018

Oulu child sexual exploitation scandal In December 2018, it transpired that adult men, all of whom had arrived in Finland as asylum seekers or refugees, were grooming, and raping and otherwise sexually abusing, girls under 15 years of age in Oulu, Finland. One victim ended up comm ...

. Prime Minister

Juha Sipilä Juha Petri Sipilä (; born 25 April 1961) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2019. A relative newcomer to politics, he has a successful background in business. He was the leader of the Centre Party fr ...

declared that “Sex crimes against children are inhumane acts of incomprehensible evil.”

Population

Economy

As of 31 December 2008, the active working population was employed as follows: In 2011, the most important employers were:

Culture

The best known cultural exports of the city of Oulu are the

Air Guitar World Championships Air Guitar World Championships (AGWC) is an annual event taking place in Oulu, Finland. AGWC was arranged for the first time in 1996. Today, national championships are held all around the world. Playing air guitar is based on mimicking guitar playi ...

held annually in August, Mieskuoro Huutajat (also known as ''Screaming Men''), the now defunct metal band Sentenced, and one of the best ice hockey teams in Europe,

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times ...

. Many artists, writers, and musicians live in the city. A variety of concerts — rock, classical, and jazz — as well as other cultural events take place each year. Examples include the Oulu Music Video Festival, the

, and the Musixine Music Film Competition, all in August. In July, the annual rock festival

Qstock Qstock is an annual two-day rock festival held at the end of July in Oulu, Finland. The festival lineup includes some of the biggest names in both domestic and international music scene, regardless of the genre. The first Qstock festival was orga ...

takes place. The Oulu Music Festival is held in winter and the Oulunsalo Music Festival in summer.

The Irish Festival of Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

takes place each October, and the International Children's Film Festival each November. Museums in Oulu include the Northern Ostrobothnia museum, the

Oulu Museum of Art The Oulu Museum of Art (OMA) is an art museum in the Myllytulli neighbourhood in Oulu. It is located on the edge of the Hupisaaret Islands park. The museum was opened to the public on October 12, 1963. The first premises were in the so-called ''K ...

(OMA), the

Tietomaa Tietomaa is a science centre in Oulu, Finland. It is located in Myllytulli Myllytulli is a district of the city centre area of Oulu, Finland. Myllytulli was mostly industrial area, which was rezoned mostly for residential use in 1984. Some of ...

science center, and the

Turkansaari Turkansaari is an island in the Oulujoki river with an open-air museum in the Madekoski district in Oulu, Finland. The museum is run by the Northern Ostrobothnia museum. Turkansaari island was a marketplace for Russian traders in the Oulujoki ri ...

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

. Notable statues and sculptures in Oulu include a sculpture of Frans Michael Franzén and '' The Bobby at the Market Place'' statue. Finlands' Eurovision representatives 2021 rock band Blind Channel are from Oulu. They placed 6th in the competition.

Kalmah Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...

is a melodic death metal-band from Oulu that formed in 1998.

Food

In the 1980s, '' rössypottu'',

soup and

sweet cheese Juhannusjuusto or makiajuusto (lit. Midsummer cheese or sweet cheese) is an Ostrobothnian dish which is also called red whey and cheese soup. Like the name suggests it is eaten during Midsummer and more widely in the summer season. The sweet ch ...

(''juhannusjuusto'') were named Oulu's traditional parish dishes.

Sights

, a science center with over 150 exhibits *The Rapids Center, the area in the estuary of the Oulu river consisting of small islands connected with bridges and fountains in the middle of the river, and including a housing area of building blocks planned by Alvar Aalto * The Market Square with the City Library, the City Theatre and old salt and tar storehouses *

Hupisaaret Islands The Hupisaaret Islands City Park is a public urban park in the Myllytulli district in central Oulu, Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shar ...

, a large park area located in the estuary of the Oulu river *The F. M. Franzen memorial *The

Koitelinkoski Koitelinkoski (i.e. ''Koiteli rapids'') is an outdoor recreation area located along the Kiiminkijoki river in the Kiiminki district in Oulu, Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a No ...

rapids *The Northern Ostrobothnia museum *The Pateniemi Sawmill Museum *The Vehicle Museum *The

University of Oulu Botanical Gardens The Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu is one of the northernmost scientific gardens in the world. Botanical Garden collection of plants is maintained for teaching and research purposes and it is open to the public. Collections include mo ...

(situated in

Linnanmaa Linnanmaa is a district of the Kaijonharju area of Oulu, Finland. The district is located about five kilometers north of the city centre. The main campus of the University of Oulu is located in Linnanmaa occupying most of the area of the distric ...

) *The Arctic Gallery * Technopolis, the technology village *

(historical open-air museum) *

Spa Hotel Eden Break Sokos Hotel Eden is a spa hotel located in the Hietasaari district, west of Oulu centre in the Nallikari camping area. This Finland subtropical sea spa was constructed in 1989 by the designer Paavo Karjalainen. The spa was originally know ...

and sand beach in

Nallikari Nallikari is a seaside resort located on an island in the Hietasaari district in Oulu, Finland. The resort can be reached year-round with the local bus routes 15 and 15N and during summertime with a trackless train A trackless train — or t ...

recreation and tourism area *

Mannerheim Park Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867–1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. Mannerheim may also refer to: Surname * Mannerheim (family), a noble family ** Carl Erik Mannerheim (1759–1837), Finnish vice chairman and statesman ** ...

*Old observatory in Linnansaari, built in 1875 on top of the ruins of the Castle of Oulu *

Churches

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

Haukipudas Church The Haukipudas Church is an evangelical Lutheran church in Haukipudas, Oulu. The church building has been designed by Matti Honka, an Ostrobothnian builder of churches in the 18th century. The church was completed in 1762. Major renovations were ...

* Holy Family of Nazareth Church * Holy Trinity Cathedral of Oulu * Kiiminki Church * Oulujoki Church *

Oulunsalo Church The Oulunsalo Church is an evangelical Lutheran church in the Finnish city of Oulu. It was part of the town of Oulunsalo Oulunsalo ( sv, Oulunsalo, also formerly ) is former municipality in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. Along ...

* St. Luke's Chapel *

Tuira Church The Tuira Church ( fi, Tuiran kirkko) is an evangelical Lutheran church in Tuira, Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is th ...

Ylikiiminki Church The Ylikiiminki Church ( fi, Ylikiimingin kirkko, sv, Överkiminge kyrka) is an evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century Germa ...

Other points of interest

* Oulu Music Video Festival *

Jalometalli Metal Music Festival Jalometalli Metal Music Festival is a Finnish heavy metal festival held annually in Oulu since 2002. The festival mainly features old school thrash metal and death and black metal bands. Lineups 2002 * Thyrane *Monsterspank *Funeris Nocturnum ...

*The Irish Festival of Oulu *

Laitakari beacon tower Laitakari beacon tower is a daymark ( navigational aid) located on the island of Laitakari in the Gulf of Bothnia in Finland. The island is located east-northeast of Hailuoto and is within the municipal boundaries of the City of Oulu. There ha ...

*Madetoja Hall, housing the Oulu Music Centre, the residence of the

Oulu Symphony Orchestra The Oulu Symphony Orchestra ( fi, Oulu Sinfonia or ') is a Finnish orchestra based in Oulu, Finland. Oulu Sinfonia gives concerts primarily at the Oulu Music Centre, in the ''Madetojan sali'' (Madetoja Concert Hall), located in the Karjasilta dis ...

*Oulu Hall (a large indoor sports facility consisting of a low dome, which looks somewhat like a landed

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

) *Terwa Marathon & Run, event in late May (since 1989) *The Terva-skiing event in early March (since 1889) *The Winter Swimming World Championship

Transport

Oulu is served by

Oulu Airport Oulu Airport (; fi, Oulun lentoasema, sv, Uleåborgs flygplats) is located in Oulu, Finland, south-west of the city centre. The airport is the second busiest in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, as measured by the number of passengers (ca ...

, the second largest airport in Finland by passenger volume. It is located south-west of the city centre. The

Port of Oulu Port of Oulu (''Oulun satama'' in Finnish) is a complex of three separate harbours located at the mouth of Oulujoki river in Oulu, Finland. Port of Oulu is a corporation owned by the City of Oulu. Annual average of 3 million tons of cargo is shipp ...

is one of the busiest harbours on the

. It includes four separate harbour areas: Vihreäsaari oil and bulk docks, Nuottasaari docks and Oritkari docks. There is also a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

service in Oulu, which is mostly used between

and the

Hailuoto Island Hailuoto (; sv, Karlö) is a Finnish island in the northern Baltic Sea and a municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Hailuoto is (), which make it the smallest municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia and the former Oulu P ...

. The shortest travel time from

Oulu railway station The Oulu Railway Station is located in the centre of Oulu, Finland, in the city district of Vaara. All trains are operated by VR. Nearby is the Oulu bus station for long-distance buses. The railway station was built in 1886 when the Ostroboth ...

Helsinki Central railway station Helsinki Central Station ( fi, Helsingin päärautatieasema, sv, Helsingfors centralstation) ( HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. The station is used by approximately 400,000 peo ...

is 5 h 34 min, operated by VR. Other destinations include

Kolari Kolari is a municipality of Finland at the Swedish border, which follows the Torne River, the longest free-flowing river in Europe. It is located in the region of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of whic ...

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, Seinäjoki and

. The most important road in Oulu is Highway 4 ( E8/ E75) that runs from Helsinki to Utsjoki via Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Kemi and

. Other Highways in Finland, highways running to and from Oulu are Highway 20 to Kuusamo and Finnish national road 22, Highway 22 to Kajaani. Oulu Bus Station 20161105

Oulu is notable for its transportation network dedicated to non-motor vehicular traffic, including pedestrians and bicycles (termed "light" traffic in Finland). In 2010, the city contained more than of pathways and more than 100 underpasses and bridges devoted exclusively to light traffic. The network is used year-round. The ratio of light traffic pathways to residents is the highest in Finland and the cycling mode share is 20 percent. Oulu is often touted as an excellent city for bicycling. In 2015, a large underground parking facility, Kivisydän (''Stone Heart''), opened in the city center directly beneath main shopping streets. The network of parallel roads for cars and pedestrians was drilled in the rock at the depth of . The parking facility includes two ramps, 900 visitor parking lots (expandable to 1500), six access points to the ground served by 19 elevators (expandable to nine and 25), a service facility for commercial delivery vehicles, and ubi-screens that guide the driver to the selected ground access point and help locate the parked car by its license number.

Solar power

In 2015, the Kaleva (newspaper), Kaleva Media printing plant in Oulu became the most powerful photovoltaic solar plant in Finland, with 1,604 solar photovoltaic (PV) units on its roof. Although the city of Oulu, located near the Arctic Circle, has only two hours of weak sunlight in December, the photovoltaic cells work almost around the clock in the summer. The cold climate means the PV panels can get up to a 25% boost per hour, as they don't overheat. Because the sun is quite low in the sky at this latitude, vertical PV installations are popular on the sides of buildings. These solar walls also capture light reflected from snow. Snow is not necessarily cleared from rooftop solar installations. The local utility, Oulun Energia, is owned by the city of Oulu. The energy mix it receives from the Nordic-wide grid includes wood pellets, waste incineration, bioenergy, hydro-electric, geothermal, wind, nuclear, peat, natural gas and coal.

Sports

Ice hockey is the most popular spectator sport in Oulu. The local club Kärpät has won the SM-liiga championship title eight times (1980–81 SM-liiga season, 1981, 2003–04 SM-liiga season, 2004, 2004–05 SM-liiga season, 2005, 2006–07 SM-liiga season, 2007, 2007–08 SM-liiga season, 2008, 2013–14 SM-liiga season, 2014, 2014–15 Liiga season, 2015 and 2017–18 Liiga season, 2018). It has also twice been the runner-up in the IIHF European Champions Cup, in 2005 IIHF European Champions Cup, 2005 and in 2006 IIHF European Champions Cup, 2006. In Association football, football AC Oulu plays in Veikkausliiga, the premier division of Finnish football. So far Oulun Palloseura (football), OPS has claimed the Finnish football championship only twice by winning Mestaruussarja in 1979 Mestaruussarja, 1979 and in 1980 Mestaruussarja, 1980. Other notable football clubs include Oulun Luistinseura, OLS, Oulun Työväen Palloilijat, OTP and JS Hercules. Oulu has one well-known bandy club, Oulun Luistinseura, OLS, which plays in Bandyliiga and has become list of Finnish bandy champions, Finnish champions 14 times, most recently in 2014. The other bandy club, Oulun Palloseura, OPS, with its 7 championships and a bronze medal as late as in 2009, announced it would be closing down after the 2009–10 season. In 2001 Bandy World Championship, 2001 the city was the main venue for the Bandy World Championship. Oulu is also home to several other sports clubs such as Oulu Northern Lights (American football), Oulun NMKY (Basketball), Oulun Lippo (Pesäpallo), Oulun Pyrintö (Track and field), SK Pohjantähti (Orienteering)), OYUS Rugby, OYUS (Rugby union), Oulu Irish Elks (Gaelic football) and Lentopalloseura ETTA, ETTA (Volleyball). Oulun Tervahiihto is an annual ski marathon event held since 1889. Terwa Run & Marathon is an annual running event held since 1989 in late May.

Education

The

and Oulu University of Applied Sciences have their main campuses located in Oulu. Oulu is home to the most northerly architecture school in the world. The school is best known for its strong regionalistic ideas for developing architecture. This movement is named "the Oulu school" ("Oulun koulu") of architecture. Oulu Vocational College has over 13 000 students. It houses several different study subjects in different units which are spread over Oulu and neighbouring municipalities. Oulu Vocational College School of Business Studies is one of the few vocational schools which has game programming in its curriculum. Oulu International School is one of nine schools in Finland offering basic education in English. There's also a Swedish-speaking private school (Swedish Svenska Privatskolan i Uleåborg) for students up until high school. The school is the northernmost Swedish-speaking school in Finland.

Notable people

* Saara Aalto, singer, The X Factor (UK TV series), X Factor UK finalist * Marcus Amand, French racing driver * Peter von Bagh, film historian and director * Blind Channel, a post-hardcore music, post-hardcore and nu metal band * Vladislav Delay, electronic musician * Lars Gallenius, 17th century painter * Matti Hautamäki, ski jumper * Aaro Hellaakoski, poet * John von Julin, pharmacist, factory owner and ''vuorineuvos'' * Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, V.A. Koskenniemi, poet * Taavetti Lukkarinen, former foreman of Kemi Oy; man who convicted to death and Hanging, hanged of treason * Fanni Luukkonen, the leader of Lotta Svärd * Leevi Madetoja, composer * Frans Michael Franzén, poet * Impaled Nazarene, nuclear metal band * Iivo Niskanen, Olympic champion cross-country skier * Kerttu Niskanen, cross-country skier * Patrik Pasma, racing driver * Leena Peltonen-Palotie, geneticist * Susanna Pöykiö, figure skater * Ville Ranta, comic artist * Mika Ronkainen, filmmaker * Keke Rosberg, 1982 Formula One world champion * Kauko Röyhkä, author and rock musician * Sara Wacklin, teacher and writer * Mikael Toppelius, church painter * Three former presidents of the country Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Kyösti Kallio and Martti Ahtisaari, also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate * Ice Hockey players: Kari Jalonen, Mikael Granlund, Markus Granlund, Joni Pitkänen, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Mika Pyörälä, Lasse Kukkonen, Markus Nutivaara and Sebastian Aho (ice hockey, born 1997), Sebastian Aho * Football/soccer players: Niko Heiskanen, Aki Lahtinen, Antti Niemi (footballer), Antti Niemi and Mika Nurmela, Seppo Pyykkö

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Oulu is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Alta, Norway ''(since 1948)'' * Arkhangelsk, Russia ''(since 1993)'' * Astana, Kazakhstan ''(since 2013)'' * Boden Municipality, Boden, Sweden ''(since 1948)'' * Bursa, Turkey ''(since 1978)'' * Halle (Saale), Halle, Germany ''(since 1968)'' * Leverkusen, Germany ''(since 1968)'' * Odessa, Ukraine ''(since 1957)'' * Siófok, Hungary ''(since 1978)'' * Hangzhou, China ''(since 2010)'' Oulu also maintains relationships with cities twinned to List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipalities Merger (politics), merged with Oulu in 2013: * Matera, Italy ''(twinned with

since 2010)'' * Szigetszentmiklós, Hungary ''(twinned with

since 1992)'' * Kronstadt, Russia ''(twinned with Haukipudas,

, and

since 1991)''

Partnership and twinning cities

In addition Oulu has eight 'Partnership & Twinning cities': * Glasgow, UK * Ilembula, Tanzania * Karlsruhe, Germany * Luleå, Sweden * Matagalpa, Nicaragua * Sendai, Japan (since 2005) * Umeå, Sweden * Vienne, France

International municipal projects

The educational department was a part of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland.

References

External links

*
Visitoulu.fi
– VisitOulu.fi – Official tourism website of Oulu * {{Authority control Oulu, Cities and towns in Finland Grand Duchy of Finland Seaside resorts in Finland Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea 1605 establishments in Sweden Populated places established in 1605